Wire pole handling apparatus



United States Patent WIRE POLE HANDLING APPARATUS 4 Claims, 5 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl 214/512, 214/1 Int. Cl 860p 1/52 Field of Search 214/84,

512. 2.5,3,3.1, IP, lPL: 162/200, 273; 187/8.59,l1;193/35,37

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 6/1905 Norcott Primary Examiner-Albert J. Makay Attorney-Sughrue, Rothwell, Mion, Zinn and MacPeak ABSTRACT: A portable wire pole carrying dolly is provided with a vertically movable bed having a plurality of pole conveying rollers journaled therein to assist in the loading and unloading of wire poles from the bed of the dolly. The bed may be guided by a plurality of vertical support posts and secured thereto in at least two vertically spaced apart positions for cooperation with a paper making machine and a wire stringing carriage. Additional rack means may be mounted on top of the support posts and a separate wire pole conveyor may be carried by the bed of the dolly for insertion into the wire stringing carriage to form an extension of the conveying device mounted in said bed.

Patented New; 24, 1910 $512,226

' INVENTOR HENRY M. HUTTON, JR.

wem)w%%aw ATTORNEYJ',

Pat hiecl N66. 2 111970 Sheet r rvmoR HENRY M. HUTTON JR.

w w ud ATTORNEYS.

WIRE POLE HANDLING APPARATUS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION a portable dolly having a vertically adjustable bed and conveyor means to assist in loading the wire poles into a wire stringing carriage and unloading the wire poles from a paper machine.

2. Prior Art Prior to the present invention, it was necessary to maintain a relatively large crew of working men to handle the insertion of the wire poles into a wire stringing carriage and the subsequent removal from a paper machine. Illustratively. on one paper machine it was necessary to insert two poles each weighing 550 lbs., six poles each weighing 4l0 lbs. and six poles each weighing I50 lbs. The Fourdrinier wire on this machine is 175 feet long and 282 inches wide. Therefore, each BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the wire pole dolly and the wire pole conveyor in operational position relative to a wire of the poles to be inserted into the wire stringing carriage is approximately the same width as the wire. In the course of handling such long, heavy poles, it was necessary to insert then into the wire stringing carriage upon which the Fourdrinier wire had previously been draped. Due to'the great distance that the pole had to be inserted and due to the extremely heavy weight, the poles were often mishandled and dropped on the wire thereby completely ruining the wire for use in the paper making machine. Furthermore, a large number of poles had to be removed from the machine at an upper elevation which was approximately 6 feet off the ground and, in order to accomplish this, it was necessary for a large number of men to hold the extremely heavy poles above their heads. This situation proved to be extremely hazardous from a safety point of view.

According to the present invention, a great deal of time is saved since the poles can be put into position much faster and a great deal of man power is also saved in that only two men are necessary to perform the operation. The entire operation can be performed without the use of an overhead crane, thus releasing the crane for other duties.

In several prior art wire stringing carriages, a pair of hourglass rollers were mounted adjacent one side and the wire pole would be inserted over one roller and under the other so as to cantilever the pole during the insertion into the carriage. Such an arrangement was adequate during the initial portion of the insertion but once the entire length of the pole was extended into the wire carriage, the weight of the free end of the pole became much greater and the workmen reaching in from the opposite side of the machine to-handle the pole frequently were unable to control the pole and allowthe same to drop onto the wire,causing great damage thereto. Also, the fact that the workmen had to reach into the machine to support a large weight frequently lead to injuries such as strained backs and the like.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The wire pole dolly of the present invention is comprised of a frame mounted on casters and a vertically movable bed adapted to be raised and lowered along a plurality of vertical support posts. The movable bed may be pinned at selected elevations corresponding to the elevation at which the poles are to be inserted into the carriage or removed from the machine. A pole conveyor comprised of a plurality of hourglass rollers journaled in said bed enables the poles to be easily loaded and unloaded from the dolly. An additional conveyor is provided which may be carried on the wire pole dolly and inserted into the wire stringing carriage to act as a continuation of the conveyor mounted in the bed of the dolly. Rack means are provided at the top of each of the vertical support posts for storing a plurality of additional wire poles.

stringing carriage;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view along the line 2-2 in FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the wire pole dolly; FIG. 4 is an elevational view of the wire pole dolly; and FIG. 5 is a sectional view along the line 5-5 in FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In FIG. 1 a wire pole dolly 10, the wire stringing carriage 12 and the wire pole conveyor 14 are all shown in their operative positions with respect to each otherjust as they would be during a typical wire pole transfer operation. The wire pole dolly I0 is comprised of a generally rectangular frame 16 which is provided with six vertical support posts I8 at each corner thereof and adjacent the middle portion of each of the longest sides. A suitable caster 20 or the like is secured to the bottom of each of the vertical support posts 18 to provide the wire pole dolly 10 with the necessary mobility. In order to hold the dolly in the operative positions relative to the wire stringing carriage as shown in FIG. 1, the casters 20 may be provided with any suitable braking means or, on the other hand, suitable checks or depressions may be provided on the floor to prevent movement of the wire pole dolly during a loading or unloading operation.

A vertically movable bed 22 is provided with a rectangular frame coextensive'with the dolly frame 16. The bed 22 is provided with a plurality of sockets 24, one in each corner of the frame and one at the midportion of each long side of the frame. The sleeves 24 are slidably disposed over the support posts 18 so as to guide the bed 22 for vertical movement. A platform 26 is secured to one end of the bed 22 and a conveyor 28 is mounted in the middle of the bed and extends parallel to the longitudinal sides of the bed.

The conveyor 28 is comprised ofa pair ofparallel beams 30 and 32 which are secured in spaced apart relation to the ends of the bed 22. Suitable cross braces 34 are provided between 1 the rails 30 and 32 and the longitudinal sides of the bed to provide the necessary strength and stability for the conveyor. A plurality of hourglass rollers 36 are journaled intermediate the rails 30 and 32 on shafts 38 which extend through and are secured to the rails 30 and 32 by any suitable means.

In the lowermost position of the bed as illustrated in FIG. I, the bed rests upon the upper portion of the dolly frame l6. The bed 22 may be raised on the support posts 18 by any suitable means such as the overhead house crane. It is also possible to provide the dolly with suitable built-in jack means for raising and lowering the bed. Each of the sleeves 24 is provided with an aperture through which a suitable pin member 38 may extend. Corresponding apertures are provided in the vertical support posts 18 to support the vertically movable bed 22 at the desired elevation. As shown in FIG. 4 the pins 38 extend through the vertical support posts 18 to support the bed 22 at a position immediately adjacent the upper portion of the dolly frame 16. At this level the bed will be in the proper position relative to the wire stringing carriage 12 so that the wire poles may be transferred directly from the bed conveyor 28 onto the conveyor extension 14 in the wire stringing carriage 12. Additional apertures are provided adjacent the upper ends of the vertical support posts 18 in the same horizontal plane for the reception of the pins 38 so as to support the bed at a raised elevation to facilitate the removal of the poles from a paper machine. a

A crossbar 40 having a pair of upstanding socket members 42 and 44 is secured to the uppermost end of each of the vertical support posts 18 to provide a pair of longitudinally extending racks for supporting additional wire poles. The crossbars may be rigidly secured to the upper end of the poies 18 or may be provided with a post which would be capable of being inserted and removed from the hollow posts 18. A tie bar 46 may be provided with downwardly turned end portions 48 and 50 which are adapted to be inserted into the upwardly extending sockets 44 to maintain the crossbars in proper alignment. It is preferred that the tie rods 46 and the crossbars 40 be removable so that the bed 22 could be raised completely off the posts 18 should it prove necessary to remove the bed from the dolly for any reason.

The wire stringing carriage 12 is comprised of a pair of lower crossbars 60 and 62 having suitable pole supporting brackets 64 secured to the upper surface thereof. The crossbars 60 and 62 are adapted to be supported on a plurality of support blocks 66. A pair of vertical posts 68 and 70 extend upwardly from the midportion of the crossbars 60 and 62 and transverse support arms 72 and 74 are secured thereto. A pair of upper Cshaped brackets 76 and 78 are mounted on the support posts 68 and 70 and the lower arms 80 and 82 of the C-shaped brackets are provided with a plurality of pole supporting brackets 64. A pair of longitudinal connecting beams 84 and 86 extend between and are secured to the C-shaped brackets 76 and 78. A pair of l-beams 88 and 90 may be secured to the outermost portion of the C-shaped brackets adjacent the uppermost portion thereof. by any suitable means and are adapted to support a pair of traversing hoist devices 92 and 94. These hoistdevices are utilized to assist in moving the wire poles into the proper brackets 64 once the poles are inserted into the wire stringing carriage 12.

A wire pole conveyor extension 14 is mounted on the transverse arms 72 and 74 of the wire stringing carriage to assist in inserting and removing the wire poles into and out of the wire stringing carriage 12. The conveyor 14 is comprised of a pair of longitudinal rails 96 and 98 having a plurality of hourglass rollers 100 journaled therebetween on suitable shafts 102 which extend through and are secured to the rails 96 and 98 in the manner shown in FIG. 2. Downwardly extending lugs 104 are secured to the opposite ends of the rails 96 and 98 and are arranged to be disposed in abutting relation to the opposed surfaces of the arms 72 and 74 to prevent longitudinal shifting movement of the conveyor 14 during loading and unloading of wire poles into and out ofthe wire stringing carriage.

A typical cycle of operation involving the loading of the wire poles into the wire stringing carriage and their removal from the paper machine will now be described. Normally, the dolly is located in a storage area with a plurality of wire poles laid on the bed parallel to and on opposite sides of the bed conveyor 28. One of the wire poles may be stored on the conveyor rollers 36 with the conveyor 14 disposed on the top of the wire pole. Additional poles are also stored on the brackets above the movable bed 22.

Prior to stringing a Fourdrinier wire on the paper making machine, the three-pole bundle having the Fourdrinier wire wrapped thereon in the usual manner is inserted into the wire stringing carriage l2 and the loop of wire is opened in the conventional manner. The wire pole dolly is then rolled into position adjacent the end of the wire stringing carriage and the conveyor 14-is inserted into the wire loop by sliding or rolling it along the wire -pole upon which it rests. A workman may then reach into the wire loop from the other side to grasp the extended end of the conveyor and set the conveyor on the support arm 74. The other end of the conveyor will rest on the support arm 72 and the conveyor will be held against longitudinal movement by means of the lugs 104 extending downwardly from the rails of the conveyor 14.

With the bed 22 in its lowermost position as illustrated in FIG. 1, the conveyor 28 and the conveyor 14 will be aligned and it is only necessary to roll the wire pole from one conveyor onto the other. Once the wire pole is completely on the conveyor 14, the wire pole may be lifted to the appropriate support brackets 64 either by hand or, in the case of heavy poles, by means of the hoist devices 92 and 94 which are mounted for traversing movement on the rails 88 and 90. When all of the poles have been inserted into the wire stringing carriage in the manner described above, the pole conveyor 14 is then removed from the wire stringing carriage. This may be facilitated by allowingthe conveyor to roll alon the top of a pole mounted in the wire stringing carriage 12. nce the poles have been inserted into the carriage the wire and poles are placed on the paper machine in the usual manner.

On most modern machines, the inside wire poles are removed at the forming board area and at the couch roll area which are two different levels in the machine. When it is desired to remove the wire poles from the machine, the wire pole dolly can be positioned opposite the forming board or couch roll removal device and the bed elevation set to match that of the removal device. The dolly is then locked into position in the manner previously described and the wire poles can now be withdrawn by attaching a pole-out rope to the end of each pole and pulling them along the bed rollers 36. As each pole is withdrawn, it is removed from the bed conveyor 28 by merely rolling the pole to one side or the other for storage on the dolly bed.

The poles can be pulled from the machine manually or a hand or power wench may be installed to aid in the removal of the poles. When all the poles are removed from the forming board area. the dolly is relocated to the couch roll area and secured in place there. The bed 22 is then set at the proper elevation for the removal ofthe poles from the couch roll area and pinned at the proper elevation by means of the pins 38. When all the poles have been removed from the machine, the dolly is transported to its storage place until the next wire change.

On cantilever machines, it is also necessary to handle the aisle poles and these poles can be stored on the brackets on top of the dolly support poles 18 or laid on the bed 22 as desired.

The operations just described amount to machine downtime and therefore the utmost speed in pole removal is desired. This method of pole removal will result in less time for the removal operation, particularly if a mechanical device such as a power wench is used to lift the poles into the pole-out position. A great saving in man power can be realized since two or three men can perform this operation. In addition, the safety hazard involved in removing the heavy poles at a high elevation is eliminated.

l claim:

1'. A wire pole handling apparatus comprising a movable dolly having a generally rectangular frame including vertically extending corner posts, a movable wire pole supporting bed mounted on said dolly, guide means on said bed for vertical movement relative to said frame, locking means for holding said bed in at least two vertically spaced apart positions, conveyor means located on said bed for assisting in loading and unloading wire poles on and off said bed, a first pole storage means located on said bed laterally adjacent said conveyor means for storing poles thereon, a second storage means comprising bracket means secured to the top of said corner posts to provide additional storage for wire poles, said conveyor means comprising two parts, one of said parts being secured to said bed for movement therewith and the other of said parts adapted to be carried on said movable dolly and horizontally extended beyond said bed to mount on a wire stringing carriage in longitudinal alignment with said one part.

2. A wire pole handling apparatus as set forth in claim ll, wherein said conveyor means is comprised of a pair of elongated parallel spaced apart rails and a plurality of spaced rollers mounted for rotation between said rails.

3. A wire pole handling apparatus as set forth in claim 1 further comprising means for locking said dolly in a fixed position.

4. A wire pole handling apparatus as set forth in claim 2 wherein the rollers of said conveyor means are provided with an hourglass configuration, and the rollers of said first part on said bed being mounted in said bed with the larger diameter portions thereof tangential to and beneath the upper surface of said bed. 

